Showing 468 results

Dr William Moran, parish priest of Tullamore (1949-1965), is remembered by the people of Tullamore with affection and respect. To many parishioners he was seen as a character and there are few of the older parishioners who have not some humorous story to relate concerning him. Dr Moran came to Tullamore from Trim in October 1949 where he had been parish priest. He was a native of Castletowngeoghegan near Tullamore and was educated at St. Finian’s (Navan) and Maynooth College where he was ordained in 1910. He received a doctorate in divinity in 1913 and after four years as a curate in Mullingar and Collinstown he was appointed professor of dogmatic theology in Maynooth in 1917. In 1932 he became prefect of the Dunboyne establishment and librarian in 1932. From there he moved to Trim and in 1949 to Tullamore.

Although a competent parish administrator who gave his full support to the local schools building programme of the 1950s, Dr Moran was happiest among his books and produced a number of books and pamphlets on religious topics including his well known catechism. He also published a number of historical articles including this booklet on the history of Tullamore in 1962. But if Dr Moran was interested in the past he was also a forward thinking practical man. He seemed to take a special delight in running the annual Corpus Christi procession from the organ gallery of the church with the ‘Tannoy’ system he purchased in 1951. With this system Dr Moran could broadcast a Maynooth choir for the procession together with a taped recording of his own sermon while he walked around the church and listened, presumably, admiringly, to the whole event. With his background in theology and his wide reading, Dr Moran had no shortage of material for his sermons and was a fascinating preacher who held the congregation spellbound for the duration of his homily.

Dr Moran celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination in June 1962 and sung a high mass in the presence of Dr Kyne of Meath and Dr Cronin of the Philippines. The sermon was preached by Dr Philbin of Clonfert. After a short illness Dr Moran died at the age of 79 in October 1965. Although he had been responsible for many improvements at Clonminch cemetery he desired to be buried in the church grounds in a plot chosen by himself. His funeral was attended by thousands of parishioners and about 150 priests, many of them old students of their former professor. His tombstone is now incorporated in the wall of the entrance to the east transept of the new Church of the Assumption, Tullamore (rebuilt in 1986 after the fire of 1983).

Moran’s history of Tullamore was assisted by the notes of Fr John Johnson of Harbour Street who did a lot of work but did not publish it. Moran’s history was the first to be published based on a research process with footnotes and a good spread of sources. A recording of his lecture on Tullamore given at St Mary’s Hall in 1962. This was published as Early history of Tullamore (Athlone, 1962, reprinted by Offaly History, Tullamore, 1989)

Elinor Pakenham was daughter of Thomas Pakenham of Pakenham Hall, Gaddaghanstown, County Westmeath. She became Elinor Fuller when she married Abraham Fuller of Violet Hill on 11 July 1748. They had four children: Lydia (20 Jan 1749 - 24 Oct 1751), Ann (14 May 1751 - 6 Nov 1752), Abraham (19 Aug 1728 - 7 Jan 1800), Joseph Thomas “Old Patch” (10 May 1758 - 1842). Elinor Fuller was very active in society, and would often drive up to the Court in Dublin in her yellow coach. She died at Woodfield House on the evening of 13 December 1802, and was buried with her husband at Kilmanaghan, County Offaly.

Joseph Fuller, the eldest son of Ann Fuller and Abraham Fuller of Kinnegad, was born in the year 1698. He married Lydia Roberts, daughter of Isaac Roberts, and they had five children: Ann (3 Dec 1725 - 31 July 1773), John (2 Feb 1726 - 5 Jan 1772), Abraham (19 Aug 1728 - 7 Jan 1800), Joseph (19 May 1732 - 16 July 1762), and Robert (d 1762).

Ann Gee was the daughter of John Gee of Gurteen Castle. She married Abraham Fuller of Kinnegad and had seven children: Joseph (b 1698), Abraham, John, Joshua, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mary.

There is a Fuller family legend about Ann Gee. It claims that she had married a man called Unthank, that she had drawn up a lease changing the life interest she had in the Gurteen lands into a permanent lease: she hurried with the document to Gurteen Castle, where her father lay dying, but he was dead when she arrived. She took up his dead hand and made it go through the motions of signing the lease. This woman’s ghost is supposed to appear to members of the Fuller family before their death.

Ann Gee was the daughter of John Gee of Gurteen Castle. She married Abraham Fuller of Kinnegad and had seven children: Joseph (b 1698), Abraham, John, Joshua, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mary.

There is a Fuller family legend about Ann Gee. It claims that she had married a man called Unthank, that she had drawn up a lease changing the life interest she had in the Gurteen lands into a permanent lease: she hurried with the document to Gurteen Castle, where her father lay dying, but he was dead when she arrived. She took up his dead hand and made it go through the motions of signing the lease. This woman’s ghost is supposed to appear to members of the Fuller family before their death.

Abraham Fuller of Kinnegad was the eldest son of Elizabeth and Abraham Fuller, born in 1680. He married twice. His first marriage was to Ann Gee, whose father John Gee gave Woodfield Estate to Abraham Fuller of Lehinch. Ann and Abraham Fuller had seven children: Joseph (b1698), Abraham, John, Joshua, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mary. Upon Ann Fuller's death, Abraham Fuller married Elizabeth, the widow of Joseph Phelps. Elizabeth had a son named Joseph, though it is unclea whether he was from her first or second marriage. Abraham Fuller of Kinnegad died in the year 1739 at the age of 59.

Old Abraham Fuller of Lehinch was the eldest son of Mary (Warren) and Abraham Fuller. He married Elizabeth Smyth of County Limerick on 9 Mar 1679. On the day of their marriage, he's quoted to have said he would have five sons and five daughters, and he did. Their names were: Abraham of Kimegad (1680-1739), Isaac [who went to America], Jacob of Waterstown, Joseph [who went to America], and Benjamin of Kilmucklan (b 1686), Elizabeth (b 1694), Hannah, Susana, Marry, and Sarah. Abraham Fuller of Lehinch accquired Woodfield Estate from John Gee, who resided at Gurteen Castle.

Abraham Fuller was born in Amsterdam in the year 1622, and was the second son of Thomas Fuller. He became a merchant, and in 1647 married Mary Warren, daughter of Joshua Warren of Colechester. In 1651, they moved to Ireland, where they lived with their five sons and four daughters.

Abraham Augustus Fuller, the eldest son of Lizzy and Captain Adam Henry Fuller, was born 13 July 1846. He married Anna Maria, daughter of George Hearn of Merton, Sanford. They had no children. Anna Maria Fuller died in March 1905 at Woodfield House. He died 7 June 1919 at Frascati, Blackrock, County Dublin. Both buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery

Lydia Roberts, was the daughter of Isaac Roberts. Her Grandfather, Robert Roberts, moved from Wales and settled in Dublin c. 1646. He leased land from Lord Meath, and chiefly resided in Thomas Court and Cork Street. It was on this street that he gave a large piece of ground to the Quakers to be used as a burying ground. He married Miss Caridge, daughter of Alderman Caridge, one of King James’ alderman.